Today's Passage - Luke 5:17-20

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 5:17-20   "One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law... were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"   The happening of a miracle requires the authority of the Lord and also cooperation from people. A few conditions made the miracle in this passage possible:   First, it's the sacrifice of the homeowner. At that time, lots of people heard Jesus was in this house, so they came in droves to the point that there was no space in front of the entrance to the house. If you offer your house for meeting, and there are so many people that your door was blocked, and they would not be able to wipe their shoes clean, let alone taking their shoes off, would you still be able to enjoy the meeting, or you'd just be persevering through it? If someone starts to remove your roof in the middle of the meeting, you may complain to the Lord: I made a tremendous effort to buy this house, isn't this a bit too much? When we react this way, we probably have forgotten that there's a little plaque in our house that says "Christ in the Lord of Our House." Is Christ really the Lord of your house? Are you willing to pay any price in order for the glory of Jesus to be manifested? We say that Jesus is Lord, but it's better if we actually do what we say in our life. Opening our house for meeting will bring in blessings!   Second, it's the faith of the friends of the paralytic. When Jesus healed people, He typically told the sick that "your faith has saved you." But here, the Lord saw the faith of the friends of the paralytic who carried him there. Our faith can save people around us, and there are lots of people around us like this paralytic! They are not able to perform good deeds or reject evil, and they might be living dreadfully under the pressure of life. We need to have the same faith as the friends of the paralytic, to carry those around us before Jesus, and let them be healed and saved.   Third, because of the love of those friends, they not only just talked but were willing to pay a price and act. When they saw there were too many people in the house, they were willing to climb up to the roof to remove it! We might just talk about it, but they are willing show action of love. The biggest sin of the Christians is to keep God's love for ourselves to enjoy, not sharing it with others. May God help us, let us not only care about ourselves, but live with love and not be afraid of trouble, thus let those around us to also experience the grace of God.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I ask that you give us the same faith and love as those friends of the paralytic, so that we will bring our family and friends before you. I also ask that you give us the willingness to sacrifice like the homeowner, so that our house is truly a house where Jesus is the Lord, and let your grace flow to others through us. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!